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About

Nicolas Le Sommer is a leading researcher in the field of robotic tactile sensing and human-robot interaction, with a particular focus on dexterous manipulation and prosthetics. His most impactful work, "Shared human–robot proportional control of a dexterous myoelectric prosthesis" (146 citations), pioneers intuitive control strategies that blend human intent with robotic autonomy, significantly advancing assistive technology. Le Sommer’s contributions to tactile exploration are foundational: his research on multi-contact haptic exploration and bimanual compliant grasping (48 and 44 citations, respectively) enables robots to learn object properties through touch alone—critical for environments where vision fails. He also developed stretchable capacitive tactile skin for humanoid robot fingers (22 citations), achieving sensitivity comparable to human skin while withstanding high strains, a breakthrough for robust tactile sensing. His work extends to face classification via touch (5 citations), demonstrating how humanoid robots like iCub can recognize faces using proprioceptive data, inspired by how blind individuals perceive features. With over 275 total citations, Le Sommer’s research bridges hardware innovation and algorithmic control, pushing the boundaries of how robots perceive and interact with the physical world through touch.